NPDES Permit Program Basics Publications

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Spreadsheet can be used to analyze valid acute or chronic WET test data using statistical approaches recommended in Chapter 1, Section 1.3 of EPA’s Technical Support Document and in EPA’s acute and chronic WET test method documents, as well as using EPA’s Test of Significant Toxicity document (PDF)(73 pp, 522K) . The spreadsheet can be used to analyze valid data for the test endpoints indicated for the selected EPA WET test method (e.g., survival, reproduction, biomass, fertilization), and the results are presented in an easy to read format that can be printed or saved as an Excel file on the user’s computer.

Disclaimer: Please note that neither the EPA nor any of its employees assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information disclosed. Furthermore, the NPDES WET Spreadsheet is supplied “as-is” without guarantee or warranty, expressed or implied, including without limitation, any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a specific purpose.

This memo describes when a method for mercury is “sufficiently sensitive” for purposes of permit applications and monitoring under a permit. The memo also provides information on EPA’s March 12, 2007, approval of Method 245.7 for measurement of mercury and modified versions of approved analytical methods for mercury as well as the impact of their approval on the NPDES permitting process.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
08/23/2007

Guidance clarifying that industrial users discharging to POTWs that do not discharge are still subject to national categorical pretreatment standards.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
06/27/1985

Procedures to be followed if a general permit is to cover new sources. General permits can include new sources, but only after NEPA requirements are fulfilled.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
12/21/1982

States when new NPDES regulations must be used for permits being developed. The memorandum allows use of existing regulations when the regulations become effective after the public notice of a permit.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
01/18/1980

A memo concerning a possible problem in the regualtions for timing of submittal of requests for modifications under Sections 301(c) and 301(g) of the Clean Water Act.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
12/29/1982

Provides a snapshot, based on national EPA databases, of the status of individual major permits. Note that these are national snapshots and that the status of facilities and the universe of permits change.
Document Type:
Program Status Reports
Date Published:
03/01/2013

Provides a snapshot, based on national EPA databases, of the status of individual major and minor permits. Note that these are national snapshots and that the status of facilities and the universe of permits change.
Document Type:
Program Status Reports
Date Published:
03/01/2013

Provides a snapshot, based on national EPA databases, of the status of individual minor permits. Note that these are national snapshots and that the status of facilities and the universe of permits change.
Document Type:
Program Status Reports
Date Published:
03/01/2013

BCT Cost Test Guidance

The Clean Water Act requires a candidate BCT treatment to be compared to treatment by publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) on the basis of coast of effluent reductions for conventional pollutants. This guide includes the EPA's methodology for making the comparison between these POTWs removal costs for conventional pollutants and industrial removal costs.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
09/30/1980

Clarification on the procedure for calculating production-based effluent limitations and to provide guidance on the use of alternate limitations.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
12/18/1984

Intended to provide States with a summary of core permitting principles that are expressed by the current regulations and are non-negotiable.
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
08/16/2002

Information on permitting and dischargers on water boundaries between states. Legal memorandum stating that the state in which the discharge is located is the state authorized to make a 401 certification.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
04/19/1978

Memorandum providing interpretation that the steam electric effluent guideline for chlorine is intended to be an instantaneous maximum limit and not a daily maximum limit.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
07/27/1992

Legal memorandum clarifying that states have the same authority as EPA Regions in considering the economic impact of technology based effluent limits, when establishing these limits using best professional judgement.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
02/04/1977

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide clarifications regarding the flexibility in the regulations promulgated at 60 Fed. Reg. 53529 (Oct. 16, 1995), which establish analytical test methods for the determination of whole effluent toxicity (WET). Click on the following link to view this document: http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/WET/wetinfo.htmlDocument Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
04/10/1996

(This file is not currently available for download)

Clarifications Regarding Toxicity Reduction and Identification Evaluations in the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program

EPA document developed by the Office of Wastewater Management/Water Permits Division to provide additional clarification on conducting toxicity reduction evaluations and toxicity identification evaluations with respect to whole effluent toxicity (WET) testing. The document clarifies for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit writers and permittees a number of common issues such as: when and under what circumstances a permittee should conduct a TRE and/or a TIE; technical limitations on the TIE process; consideration of persistence and magnitude of toxicity events; ionic imbalances of effluents; the applicability of compliance schedules; and inconclusive TREs/TIEs. The document supplements existing EPA guidance and policies on WET and TREs/TIEs but does not change current policy or legal authority.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
03/27/2001

Memorandum which supplements the memorandum of April 10, 1996 on "Clarifications Regarding Flexibility in 40 CFR Part 136 WET Test Methods" as well as EPA guidance provided in the Technical Support Document for Water Quality-Based Toxics Control, (March 1991, EPA/505/2-90-001) as well as the WET control Policy (July 1994 EPA/833-94-002).
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
07/21/1997

Fact sheet that discusses the use of chlorine to disinfect discharged waters from combined sewer overflows. Includes information on advantages and disadvantages of this process, as well as applicability, performance, design criteria, operation and maintenance, and costs (EPA 832-F-99-034).
Document Type:Date Published:
09/01/1999

Combined Sewer Overflows Guidance For Monitoring and Modeling

Provides guidelines for the use of monitoring and modeling in the development and implementation of a CSO control program. The document provides information on characterizing a combined sewer system, assessing the impact of wet weather on CSO discharges, and assessing the impact of CSOs on receiving water bodies. It focuses on the characterization process described in the CSO Policy and refers to other literature for more in-depth explanations of specific techniques (EPA 832-B-99-002).
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
01/01/1999

Legal decision that NPDES permits and permit applications are public documents and not subject to confidential business information requirements.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
04/06/1978

Suspension of a portion of the definition of the term "waters of the United States" in the Consolidated Permit Regulations pending further rulemaking. 40 CFR Part 122
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
07/16/1980

General permits can be administratively extended under the Administrative Procedures Act, but expressing that this is not EPA's preferred mode of action.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
01/16/1984

Memorandum from AA for Water (Lajuana Wilcher) to Region 10 discussing the roles of 404 and 402 in regulating the disposal/treatment of mine tailings (specific to A-J and Kensington Mines) in waste treatment systems created in waters of the US; discusses jurisdictional waters conversion (?conversion theory?) to waste treatment systems.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
10/02/1992

Determines point source discharges into navigable waters that are not significant and to determine effective and appropriate methods of regulating such discharges (EPA 440-4-91-002).
Document Type:
Program Status Reports
Date Published:
11/01/1991

Memorandum which establishes the delegation of determinations of major/minor status for both municipal and non-municipal NPDES dischargers to the Regions
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
02/06/1995

Interim guidance on interpreting Clean Water Act section 402(o) for water quality based effluent limits, and clarifying that the January 4, 1989, regulation interprets the Act for technology based effluent limits.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
09/29/1989

Draft National Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Implementation Guidance Under the NPDES Program

This draft has been released for public review and comments. This draft document gathers together previous EPA guidance, policy, and other information and organizes it in one comprehensive document. The document also addresses a number of important issues that have been raised by states, regulated industry, and interested stakeholders on the implementation of whole effluent toxicity (WET) limits in NPDES permits. Interested parties may submit comments on the draft guidance until March 31, 2005. (The February 28, 2005 public comment period has been extended to March 31, 2005.)
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
12/28/2004

Draft letter that EPA may notify selected refineries and request that the refineries provide certain existing and new information on their facilities and the occurrence of chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and chlorinated dibenzofurans (CDDs and CDFs).
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
Unknown

Memorandum regarding the question of when enforcement and information gathering authority may be considered adequate for the purpose of approving or delegating programs in states with audit privilege or immunity laws.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
02/14/1997

Legal opinion on issues related to the eligibility of publicly owned treatment works for compliance extensions under Section 301(i)(1) of the Clean Water Act.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
04/11/1984

Describes how EPA will enforce the July 1, 1977 deadline for compliance with best practicable control technology and other statutory requirements.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
06/03/1976

July 1, 1997 is the date which compliance must be achieved with the requirements of State water quality standards and the requirements of best practicable control technology currently available (BPT) for industrial dischargers.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
04/27/1977

OWEC position paper discussing the Agency's position with regards to enforcement against facilities in the Midwest which have flood related NPDES violations.
Document Type:
Technical and Issue Papers
Date Published:
08/13/1993

Environmental Management Systems

This Guide is intended to support and facilitate the development of environmental management systems (EMS) among small and medium-sized organizations. The Guide explains how you can develop and implement an effective EMS and how it can support your organization's mission and goals. Development of an EMS is a voluntary approach to improving your organization's environmental performance.
The final report on NSF International's EMS Demonstration Project summarizes the EMS implementation experiences of 18 organizations of a variety of types and sizes. The project, which used the ISO 14001 Standard as the model for an EMS, was funded through a two-year grant from EPA's Office of Wastewater Management (October 1994 - September 1996).
Document Type:
Case Studies
Date Published:
11/01/1996

The purpose of this memorandum is to transmit the Office of Water's Guidance on Application of State Mixing Zone Policies in EPA-Issued NPDES Permits.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
08/06/1996

Policy for the development of effluent limitations in NPDES permits to control whole effluent toxicity for the protection of aquatic life (EPA 833-B-94-002)
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
07/01/1994

EPA Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Training DVD: EPA Freshwater Series

EPA has produced training DVDs on EPA WET test methods and culturing of test organisms and a supplemental training guide to use with the DVDs for each WET test method listed below. These DVD WET materials were produced to be used as an important training tool for EPA Regions, states and private laboratories to use as part of their NPDES WET program implementation. These WET training DVDs provide an overview of EPA's WET test methods promulgated at 40 CFR Part 136. The training DVDs were developed so that permit writers, their permittees and commercial laboratories can have a better understanding of the EPA WET test methods and how to properly conduct them. They are excellent for training new staff and for NPDES WET training courses. However, these training materials are not intended to replace a thorough understanding and reading of the EPA WET test method manuals.
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
05/05/2009

EPA has produced training DVDs on EPA WET test methods and culturing of test organisms and a supplemental training guide to use with the DVDs for each WET test method listed below. These DVD WET materials were produced to be used as an important training tool for EPA Regions, states and private laboratories to use as part of their NPDES WET program implementation. These WET training DVDs provide an overview of EPA's WET test methods promulgated at 40 CFR Part 136. The training DVDs were developed so that permit writers, their permittees and commercial laboratories can have a better understanding of the EPA WET test methods and how to properly conduct them. They are excellent for training new staff and for NPDES WET training courses. However, these training materials are not intended to replace a thorough understanding and reading of the EPA WET test method manuals.
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
05/05/2009

Memorandum explaining that EPA has no authority to issue general permits in authorized states, where the state has yet to receive authority to issue general permits. The memorandum also explains that EPA has authority over federal facilities even if a state has been approved to administer the NPDES program.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
07/11/1983

Memorandum which sets forth the guidelines that all EPA employees should follow in discussing the merits of proposed rules with interested persons outside the Agency during the period between proposal and promulgation.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
08/04/1978

Guidance to permit authorities on what language to include in NPDES permits to require a POTW to administer a pretreatment program.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
09/22/1983

This guidance is intended to simplify the procedure for assigning effluent limitations for indicator organisms so that a transition from effluent based to water quality based requirements will be both efficient and effective.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
02/14/1977

Final review procedures for draft and final general NPDES permits.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
09/27/1983

Final Section 304(l) Implementation Guidance

Guidance to EPA Regions and states on how to identify waters subject to listing under Clean Water Act section 304(l) and development of Individual Control Strategies for point sources discharging into these waters.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
03/17/1988

Memorandum update to the September 7, 2000 memorandum. This memo discusses the new options that allow states to QA/QC the data and allow EPA to determine whether data for key fields are missing in PCS.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
01/25/2001

Guidance for the performance of Toxicity Reduction Evaluations (TREs) at industrial facilities. This document presents a generalized methodology for designing and conducting a TRE and 10 supporting case studies which illustrate various approaches that have been used in the
performance of TREs to date (EPA-600-2-88-070).
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
04/01/1989

PCS is the primary repository of data used to determine reductions in pollutant loads to the waters of the United States. This effort falls under the umbrella of EPA's National Goals Project, which has developed a series of milestones for measuring improvements to the waters ofthe United States over the next 10 years. Measuring point source load reductions using PCS is one way to monitor improvements. The purpose of this guidance is to establish guidelines for consistent coding of NPDES permits in a manner that facilitates load reduction estimation through the use of PCS.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
08/01/1997

Guidance for NPDES permittees in the development of BMPs for their facilities to prevent release of toxic and hazardous chemicals (EPA 833-B-93-004).
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
10/01/1993

Guidance to EPA regions and states on criteria for evaluating the principal POTW activities that are essential to fully implement most local pretreatment programs.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
04/16/1987

Guidance to EPA regions on how to determine in advance if concurrence is necessary for making decisions on variances from effluent guidelines.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
04/15/1986

Worksheet that allows homeowners to keep track of septic system inspections and maintenance. This checklist is included in the booklet below or may be used separately (EPA 832-F-03-006).
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
02/01/2003

Booklet that describes how a septic system works and what homeowners can do to help their systems treat wastewater effectively (EPA 832-B-02-005).
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
02/01/2003

Short brochure that describes how a septic system works and what homeowners can do to help their system treat wastewater effectively (EPA 832-B-02-006).
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
02/01/2003

Information from the National Wildlife Federation on Section 403 of the FWPCA. Clarifies that ocean discharge regulations at 40 CFR 227 no longer apply to discharges to oceans, and that the criteria in CWA section 403(c) must instead be used.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
07/20/1977

Expresses EPA's commitment to implementing the National Municipal Policy, which includes schedules of compliance for secondary treatment at POTWs not to exceed July 1, 1988.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
07/24/1985

Handbook on how to conduct industrial Permit Quality Reviews (PQRs), which were developed in 1983 by the EPA Office of Water Enforcement and Permits. PQR was designed to provide national information on permit contents and program operations. This information is necessary for responses to Congress, developing budget and resource requests, and to identify areas for guidance or training activities.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
09/01/1987

This manual describes the information which should be developed and evaluated in connection with making technical determinations under Section 316(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended. FWPCA requires EPA to establish effluent limitations for use in permits for the discharge of pollutants to U.S. waters from point sources such as nuclear power plants.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
05/01/1977

Interim Authorization of Programs Based on emergency State Regulations

Memorandum pertaining to RCRA program expressing limited conditions under which a state could receive interim authorization to issue permits. Although this was issued for the RCRA program, the concept could apply to NPDES.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
10/03/1980

Interim guidance to reduce unnecessary pollutant-specific monitoring and reporting in reissued NPDES permits with an excellent compliance and enforcement history. Does not advocate reductions for parameters monitored only once per quarter or for limits below analytical level of quantification (EPA 833-B-96-001).
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
04/01/1996

Guidance to support implementation of Federal standards for those states included in the National Toxics Rule (EPA-823-B-94-001).
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
02/22/1994

Clarifies that RCRA requirements apply to discharges of leachate into ground water from leaking waste management units, even when the ground water provides a direct hydrologic connection to surface waters of the US.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
02/17/1994

Guidance that when both legal and factual issues arise in an evidentiary hearing, and the EPA region grants the hearing on the factual issues, that the legal issues must also be heard by the administrative law judge.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
04/12/1985

Kid's Posters: How Do We Treat Our Wastewater?

Children's poster that fully illustrates how wastewater is generated and treated. A lesson plan for middle school classes is on the back of the poster. A black-and-white version that younger children can color, with a lesson plan for grade school classes on the back, is also available (EPA 832-H-92-002 and EPA 832-H-92-003).

Letter explaining that NPDES has jurisdiction over discharges from water treatment plants, and explaining that BCT and BPT are the appropriate technological standards for these discharges.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
03/16/1984

This memo provides interim guidance on implementing the Stormwater Phase II program for Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems
(MS4s) in light of the recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Environmental Defense Center, et. al. v. EPA, September 15, 2003). The guidance covers several issues related to the implementation of the MS4 program, including public availability of NOIs, opportunities for public hearings, and review of NOIs by permitting authorities.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
04/16/2004

Response to a letter requesting EPA's opinion as to whether definitions set forth in an Illinois State Bill were consistent with the requirements of the Clean Water Act. The memo provides comments on the proposed legislation in three areas: (1) with regard to whether it might impact the state's NPDES jurisdiction, (2) the ambiguity of Section 4(d) of the legislation, and (3) the requirements of filing a Notice of Intent with the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
10/04/2006

For the protection of Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries from excess nutrient loading, this memorandum states that NPDES permit effluent limits for nitrogen and phosphorus should be expressed as an annual limit in lieu of daily maximum, weekly average, or monthly average effluent limitations. This memo describes the scientific and policy rationales that support why permit limits expressed as an annual limit are appropriate.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
03/03/2004

Clarifies that the Agency intends that a certification of "accuracy" occurs in information submissions of testing data for whole effluent toxicity, but as the layperson uses the term, not "accurate" as the term is used to describe the quantifiable performance of a measurement system.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
03/03/2000

Describes the benefits of watershed-based permitting, the implementing mechanisms for this component of the watershed approach, and how EPA will be encouraging use of watershed-based NPDES permits.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
01/07/2003

A tool for environmental scientists and permit writers to use in calculating the amount of a metal that may be discharged from a facility to a surface water body based on how the metal is distributed or partitioned between water and sediments in the receiving stream (EPA 823-B-96-007).
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
06/01/1996

This document provides guidance and recommendations on the conduct of the approved WET test methods and interpretation of WET test results reported under the NPDES program. This guidance partially fulfills the obligations of a legal settlement agreement that resolves a judicial challenge to the WET final rule. The document provides guidance on the following issues: nominal error rate adjustments, confidence intervals, concentration-response relationships, dilution series, and dilution waters.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
07/01/2000

Status report of EPA regional efforts to implement the NPDES Watershed Strategy, and of the various activities conducted by states and EPA regions to foster watershed protection.
Document Type:
Program Status Reports
Date Published:
10/25/1994

EPA help card explaining how to install and use the National Listing of Fish and Wildlife Consumption Advisories (NLFWCA) Microsoft Windows program.
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
06/01/1996

The transmittal memo and implementation document provides the basis for implementing the Test of Significant Toxicity (TST) approach under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) for permitting authorities (states and Regions) and persons interested in analyzing whole effluent toxicity (WET) test data using the traditional hypothesis testing approach as part of the NPDES Program under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
06/01/2010

Memorandum which discusses the implementaion of the new system for rating dischargers as major/minor for purposes of aiding the administration of the NPDES program.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
06/27/1990

Lists all NPDES publications as of September 1, 2002. This comprehensive list of publications is categorized by program area, then publication title.
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
09/01/2002

General information application. Must be submitted by all facilities applying for an individual NPDES permit, with the exception of POTWs, TWTDS, and MS4s serving a population greater than 100,000. Note: You need Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 or 8.0 in order to open this file. Even though this publication is a PDF file, this document allows you to type directly onto the form and allows you to save the PDF with the form fields populated. You should enter your facility information on the form, print it, sign it, and mail the form to the address stated in the instructions.
Document Type:
Permit Applications and Forms
Date Published:
08/01/1990

Application for permit to discharge municipal wastewater from new and existing publicly owned treatment works (POTWs). Note: You need Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 or 8.0 in order to open this file. Even though this publication is a PDF file, this document allows you to type directly onto the form and allows you to save the PDF with the form fields populated. You should enter your facility information on the form, print it, sign it, and mail the form to the address stated in the instructions.
Document Type:
Permit Applications and Forms
Date Published:
01/14/1999

Revised application for permit to discharge wastewater from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and aquatic animal production facilities. Note: You need Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 or 8.0 in order to open this file. Even though this publication is a PDF file, this document allows you to type directly onto the form and allows you to save the PDF with the form fields populated. You should enter your facility information on the form, print it, sign it, and mail the form to the address stated in the instructions.
Document Type:
Permit Applications and Forms
Date Published:
07/13/2009

Application for permit to discharge wastewater - existing industrial facilities (including manufacturing, commercial, mining and silvicultural operations) (Revisions proposed for Form 2C have been discontinued.)Note: You need Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 or 8.0 in order to open this file. Even though this publication is a PDF file, this document allows you to type directly onto the form and allows you to save the PDF with the form fields populated. You should enter your facility information on the form, print it, sign it, and mail the form to the address stated in the instructions.
Document Type:
Permit Applications and Forms
Date Published:
08/01/1990

Application for permit to discharge process wastewater - for new industrial facilities. Note: You need Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 or 8.0 in order to open this file. Even though this publication is a PDF file, this document allows you to type directly onto the form and allows you to save the PDF with the form fields populated. You should enter your facility information on the form, print it, sign it, and mail the form to the address stated in the instructions.
Document Type:
Permit Applications and Forms
Date Published:
08/01/1990

Application for facilities which do not discharge process wastewaters. Note: You need Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 or 8.0 in order to open this file. Even though this publication is a PDF file, this document allows you to type directly onto the form and allows you to save the PDF with the form fields populated. You should enter your facility information on the form, print it, sign it, and mail the form to the address stated in the instructions.
Document Type:
Permit Applications and Forms
Date Published:
08/01/1990

Application for permit to discharge stormwater associated with new and existing industrial activity. Note: You need Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 or 8.0 in order to open this file. Even though this publication is a PDF file, this document allows you to type directly onto the form and allows you to save the PDF with the form fields populated. You should enter your facility information on the form, print it, sign it, and mail the form to the address stated in the instructions.
Document Type:
Permit Applications and Forms
Date Published:
01/01/1992

Application for sewage sludge (biosolids) permit for new and existing treatment works treating domestic sewage (TWTDS). Note: You need Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 or 8.0 in order to open this file. Even though this publication is a PDF file, this document allows you to type directly onto the form and allows you to save the PDF with the form fields populated. You should enter your facility information on the form, print it, sign it, and mail the form to the address stated in the instructions.
Document Type:
Permit Applications and Forms
Date Published:
01/14/1999

Information on the request of whether an NPDES Permit constitutes an authorization to discharge only specific parameters limited or monitored in the permit of a general authorization.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
04/28/1976

Memorandum outlines prescribed form for NPDES permits. Information on content and layout of forms to be utilized for all industrial and most other non-municipal dischargers.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
09/18/1973

Memorandum to the Regions recognizing the challenge involved with respect to meeting permit issuance requirements during the transition to the watershed approach. It outlines measures designed to facilitate with the transition.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
03/13/1996

Memorandum directing EPA regions to not issue permits to iron and steel facilities until the effluent guideline is promulgated, and suggestion to States to do the same. [Note: This memorandum became obsolete upon the May 27, 1982, promulgation of the effluent guideline.]
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
09/15/1980

Memorandum discussing the position EPA has taken on the regulation of the Pulp and Paper Industrial Point Source Category, to examine methods for issuance of permits to facilities in that category and the issuance of permits with BCT limitations to secondary categories other than the pulp and paper.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
02/15/1981

NPDES Permit Quality Review (PQR) Assessment Packet

On a rotating basis, the Office of Wastewater Management, Water Permits Division (WPD) at EPA Headquarters, in conjunction with EPA Regional offices, conducts Permit Quality Reviews (PQRs). The PQR provides a process to evaluate state NPDES Program effectiveness, as reflected in the permit and other supporting documents (e.g., fact sheet, calculations). The NPDES Permit Quality Review Assessment Packet provides an overview of the PQR process and the type of information that EPA headquarters assesses during its permit reviews. Included are the "central tenets of the NPDES program," review checklists and questions for the core review and all the topic- specific reviews, and a generic PQR site visit outline. The goal of the checklists is to assess and document whether the permit and administrative record provide a complete, comprehensive and transparent record of permit development. As such, the checklist responses are not intended to judge the "correctness" or "incorrectness" of permit limits and conditions. Rather, the checklists are intended to guide a comprehensive evaluation of the NPDES permit development process by a knowledgeable EPA or State NPDES permit reviewer.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
08/12/2009

NPDES permits to federal facilities must conform with state water quality management plans, but that the permits do not need to be immediately modified to include recent revisions to such plans.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
05/04/1977

NPDES Permits in Wetlands Areas

Information on the guidance concerning the creation of a sanitary landfill in a wetland.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
07/11/1977

Presents a coordinated and integrated management system that when fully implemented will produce a nation-wide NPDES program that is more efficient and focuses on environmental results. This Strategy is an important element in an overall plan to meet the watershed restoration goals established in EPA's Strategic Plan.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
08/15/2003

Guidance on the NPDES permitting process and general permitting strategy for offshore oil and gas activities, prepared under the Memorandum of Understanding between EPA and the Minerals Management Service of the Department of the Interior.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
06/18/1985

National strategy calling for expeditious reissuance of NPDES permits for organic chemical facilities, in order that the new effluent guidelines can quickly become implemented.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
02/16/1989

NPDES State Program Guidance

Guidance for development and review of State program applications and evaluation of State legal authorities. Volume One. (40 CFR Parts 122-125 and 403).
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
07/29/1986

Policy memorandum on how EPA will interpret its national criteria for metals, and presentation of technical tools states and EPA regions can use in implementing these criteria in NPDES permits and TMDLs.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
10/15/1993

Memorandum that discusses the effort by the Office of Water and the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance to enter missing data and QA/QC the data entered in the Permit Compliance System (PCS).
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
09/07/2000

Guidance document providing an overview of the semiconductor manufacturing process, a discussion of the overlap between Parts 469 and 433, and examining new and emerging manufacturing technologies and how these processes fit into the regulatory framework of Parts 469 and 433.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
04/21/1998

Policy statement that storage of water for the regulation of streamflow shall not be considered as a substitute for providing adequate treatment. [Note: Policy later incorporated into regulations at 40 CFR 123.3(f).]
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
01/16/1973

Outlines interim procedures for processing FDF variances, until such time regulations are promulgated. [Note: Procedures became superseded by promulgation of the regulations on June 7, 1979, and subsequent revisions to EPA's delegation of signature author
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
08/17/1977

EPA's position on the scope of the authorization to discharge under an NPDES permit and the shield thus associated with the permit authorization.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
07/01/1994

Provides a cross-sectional analysis of successful organizations engaged in watershed management. As described in the report, EPA analyzed 29 selected organizations in 17 states for potential that these organizations may have to play a role in implementing watershed-based NPDES permitting based on their current goals and activities.
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
09/30/2002

Contains the protocols and worksheets for determining economic achievability when establishing best available technology economically achievable (BAT) on a case-by-case basis in NPDES Permits. Includes worksheets and important analysis information.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
08/12/1982

Reminder to states and Regional Offices of the proper procedures for public notice of draft NPDES permits while section 301(g) variance decisions are pending.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
08/01/1985

Memorandum announcing that due to a partial remand on the organic chemicals effluent guideline, permit writers need to use their best professional judgement for writing permit limits for bis (2-chloroisopropyl) ether.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
11/30/1988

Legal opinion allowing the use of compliance schedules for revised BAT and water quality standards. [Note: This is modified by Starkist Caribe decision of 1990.]
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
12/26/1978

On June 7, 1994, the EPA issued a Peer Review Policy Statement. The overall objective of the Peer Review Policy is to enhance the quality and credibility of Agency decisions by ensuring that scientific and technical work products that support EPA decisions receive peer review by independent scientific and technical experts. To help EPA state and managers implement this policy, EPA's Science Policy Council (SPC) prepared this Peer Review Handbook to provide guidance on organizing and conducting peer reviews.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
06/07/1994

Search General Permits

EPA is gathering PDF copies of NPDES general permits and fact sheets for major facilities issued after November 1, 2002. Click here to search and view general permits issued by permit category, state, permit title, or permit number.
Document Type:
Example and General Permits
Date Published:
11/01/2002

Guidance for review of state toxics control programs. [Note: This activity was suspended following release of the 1991 Technical Support Document for Water Quality-based Toxics Control, and the promulgation of the National Toxics Rule on December 22, 1992.]
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
12/01/1987

Announcement of suspension of NPDES regulations pertaining to new sources, and proposal of revision. [Note: This memorandum is obsolete when the changes were promulgated on September 26, 1984.]
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
09/25/1980

Guidance to EPA Regions and states on how to conduct the technical analysis required in support of Section 301(g) variances to effluent guidelines. Assistance for applicants in developing best available technology economically achievable (BAT) effluent limitations for non-conventional pollutants (CWA s.301(g)).
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
08/22/1984

Guidance document to permittees, permit writers and consultants on the general approach and procedures for conducting toxicity reduction evaluations (TREs) at municipal wastewater treatment plants. Provides new updates and additional case study discussions on issues for identifying whole effluent toxicity at municipal wastewater treatment plants. It addresses many issues that stakeholders have raised since the earlier April 1989 edition. It is intended to be a guide to the approaches that have been successfully used in municipal TREs (EPA 833-B-99-022).
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
08/01/1999

Memorandum providing EPA's policy on use of biological criteria and requirement to independently apply water quality criteria when assessing the health of a surface water. This is the document that presents EPA's policy on "independent applicability."
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
06/19/1991

Preface and Acknowledgements for the Treatability Manual. Series of EPA guidance manuals on the treatability of priority pollutants. Guidance is often used by permit writers when establishing permit limits using best professional judgement. Vol.1(EPA 800/8-80-042A; ERIC W754; NTIS PB80-223050), Vol.2 (EPA 800/
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
06/23/1980

Understanding and Accounting for Method Variability in Whole Effluent Toxicity Applications Under the NPDES Program

This document was developed by an EPA OWM work group to address questions raised by stakeholders on the issue of analytical variability that might be associated with Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) testing and how it relates to the NPDES permit program (EPA 833-R-00-003)
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
06/01/2000

Information on the use of in-stream aerators to meet water quality standards. Recommends that the use of instream aerators not be considered analogous to low flow augmentation.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
05/02/1977

Fact sheet that explains what can be funded through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to increase security at wastewater treatment plants (EPA 832-F-03-002).
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
02/01/2003

Colorful 3" x 5" bill insert for use by wastewater and water supply utilities. One side has information for customers that discharge to sanitary sewer systems; the other side is for customers with septic systems (EPA 832-F-03-007).
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
02/01/2003

Fact sheet that provides information on the advantages and disadvantages, applicability, performance, design criteria, operation and maintenance, and costs of widely used technologies for removing organic substances, metals and other inorganics from wastewater in a process of precipitation, or settling out these substances from solution (EPA 832-F-00-018).
Document Type:Date Published:
09/01/2000

Fact sheet on the use of GAC adsorption for advanced treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater. Technology can be used to absorb small quantities of remaining soluble organic and inorganic compounds. Provides information on advantages and disadvantages, applicability, performance, design criteria, operation and maintenance, and costs (EPA 832-F-00-017).
Document Type:Date Published:
09/01/2000

Brochure that summarizes all the EPA or EPA-sponsored resources available to small communities to address wastewater issues (EPA 832-R-02-004).
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
02/01/2003

This paper will present a brief history and introduction to the national water pollution control permitting program as administered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and provide an overview of the permitting activities implemented through the NPDES program today.
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
Unknown

Congress responded to the public outrage over the deplorable condition of the nation's water by enacting the Clean Water Act (833-F-98-003).
Document Type:
Program Status Reports
Date Published:
06/01/1998

Water Quality Trading Toolkit for Permit Writers

EPA’s first "how-to" manual on designing and implementing water quality trading programs. The Toolkit helps NPDES permitting authorities incorporate trading provisions into permits. It will help improve the quality and consistency of all trading programs across the nation. Visit EPA's Water Quality Trading web site for more information.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
08/07/2007

EPA published the final Water Quality Guidance for the Great Lakes System in the Federal Register on March 23, 1995. The purpose of this Supplementary Information Document (SID) is to provide a more detailed description of the final Guidance, including a statement of the basis and purpose of the final Guidance; a discussion of the major changes from the proposal; and an analysis of issues raised in comments received on the proposed Guidance and subsequent documents in the Federal Register (EPA-820-B-95-001).
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
03/01/1995

Proposed cooling pond site in Polk County, Florida. Provides guidance on whether a cooling pond is considered as a water of the US under the NPDES permit program.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
12/13/1993

This technical guidance is a follow up to the 2003 Watershed-based National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permitting Implementation Guidance and provides greater detail concerning a number of permit development and issuance questions not addressed previously. This document is focused on helping NPDES authorities develop and issue NPDES permits that fit into an overall watershed planning and management approach with input from watershed stakeholders.

EPA is encouraging stakeholders to use this technical guidance and other tools available as a framework to move watershed-based permitting from the concept to implementation stage. EPA is seeking comments and feedback on the technical guidance as permitting authorities and other stakeholders use it. Please send all comments to EPA's Watershed Permitting Team.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
07/20/2007

Describes EPA's recommended steps and ideas for watershed-based permitting implementation under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program. This approach, aimed at achieving new efficiencies and environmental results, provides a process for considering all stressors within a hydrologically defined drainage basin or other geographic area, rather than addressing individual pollutant sources on a discharge-by-discharge basis (EPA 833-B-03-004).
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
12/17/2003

Colorful reprint from The Family Handyman Magazine that explains how various wastewater systems work by using excellent illustrations. Reprinted with permission from The Family Handman Magazine, 1997 Home Service Publications, Inc., an affiliate of The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., Suite 700, 2915 Commers Drive, Eagan, MN 55121. All rights reserved (EPA 832-B-02-007).
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
01/01/1997

This brochure raises citizen's awareness of the importance of wastewater, explains the basics of wastewater treatment, and contains helpful hints for homeowners about what NOT to put into the sanitary sewer system (EPA 832-F-03-008)
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
02/01/2003

Policy is intended to promote nationwide compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements for the control of WET.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
07/01/1994

Whole Effluent Toxicity Training Video Series

Whole effluent toxicity (WET) test and organism culturing videos are an important training tool for EPA Regions and States and others (i.e., laboratories). Due to the recognized ongoing need for WET training, USEPA revised the original videos to incorporate EPA’s 2002 WET test methods technical updates and added new features to enhance the training benefits.
Document Type:
Factsheets and Outreach Materials
Date Published:
09/17/2013

Expresses need to reissue NPDES permits implementing BAT although effluent guidelines have not been developed, and initial guidance on how to write such permits using best professional judgement.
Document Type:
Policy and Guidance Documents
Date Published:
06/25/1980